American Express debuts new card offering triple points

You heard it here first. Or maybe eighth, depending what else you've been reading. American Express has launched a new rewards gold card, and the rewards are impressive.

It's their new Premier Rewards Gold Card, which debuted earlier this week. The big news -- they're offering triple points on airline purchases and double points on gas and groceries.

In a way, this isn't surprising. Yes, mainly credit cards are scaling back rewards, but not the cards designed for the wealthy.

Jim Bramlett, managing director at Novantas, a consulting firm for the banking and credit card industry, predicted in a WalletPop interview a couple months ago that credit cards would be offering their most affluent customers even better rewards programs. And it looks like that's happening.

Which makes a lot of sense. So many people are drifting to debit cards over credit, that credit cards are probably going to have to work harder to get people to come back.

But back to the Premier Rewards Gold Card. Some of the other things you'll want to know if you're considering applying:

• If you spend $30,000 a year on the card, you can earn 15,000 extra bonus points.

• There's an annual fee of $175, but in these recessionary times, American Express will waive that fee for the first year.

• If you have an American Express Gold Card, all of the benefits you get with that, you'll get with this.